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The sartorius muscle is the longest muscle in the body and arises by tendinous fibres from the anterior superior iliac spine, running obliquely across the upper and anterior part of the thigh in an inferomedial direction.

Situated in the anterior fascial compartment of the thigh, the sartorius is innervated via the anterior (or superficial) branch of the femoral nerve (AORN Journal, J. Murauski). The femoral nerve is responsible for both sensory and motor components in the sartorius and provides proprioceptive feedback for the muscle (Anatomy and Physiology 5th edition, K. Saladin)

One of the many conditions that can disrupt the use of the sartorius is pes anserine bursitis, an inflammatory condition of the medial portion of the knee. This condition usually occurs in athletes from overuse and is characterized by pain, swelling and tenderness. The pes anserinus is made up from the tendons of the gracilis, semitendinosus, and sartorius muscles; these tendons attach onto the anteromedial proximal tibia. When inflammation of the bursa underlying the tendons occurs they separate from the head of the tibia (eMedicine, MD. M. Glencross).

An anatomical significance of the sartorius muscle is that it forms one of the boundaries of the femoral triangle along with the inguinal ligament and the adductor longus muscle. The femoral triangle contains the femoral artery, vein and nerve.

Sartorius comes from the Latin word sartor, meaning tailor,[3] and it is sometimes called the tailor's muscle.

There are four hypotheses as to the genesis of the name. One is that this name was chosen in reference to the cross-legged position in which tailors once sat. Another is that it refers to the location of the inferior portion of the muscle being the "inseam" or area of the inner thigh tailors commonly measure when fitting a pant. A third is that the muscle closely resembles a tailor's ribbon. Additionally, antique sewing machines required continuous cross body pedaling. This combination of lateral rotation and flexion of the hip and flexion of the knee gave tailors particularly enlarged sartorius muscles.